Is enduring, fudge-y pudding cake on your radar? If not, you are in for a chocolatey treat. As the cake bakes, a rich fudge-y sauce forms on the bottom of the pan, leaving a light, brownie-like cake atop. It’s a marvel to watch as it bakes, and always a crowd pleaser.
The recipe scores bonus points as an easy-peasy dessert to fill the bill for newer bakers to prepare for Mother’s Day. The photo shows vanilla chip ice cream, but the cake will go with any flavor that you like with chocolate. For Mother’s Day, a strawberry will bring it into springtime with a fresh berry garnish!
My research finds this recipe dates to the late- ‘70’s, and likely from a fine food shop in Philadelphia. Since then, countless recipes have appeared, and I’ve tweaked my own version over the years.
This one has less sugar but still retains a very deep, rich chocolate-y indulgence for very few ingredients. Plus, you may have most of the ingredients on hand most of the time!
Fair warning – This cake uses a very unique process. The pudding layer is achieved by adding the ingredients in a very unconventional way. The thick cake batter forms the base, but then you add the “pudding” on top, which consists of brown sugar, more cocoa powder and hot coffee or water. The liquid=y pudding ingredients begin sinking once in the oven, and the resulting cake is atop the fudge-y pudding. It’s chemistry, or magic. You decide.
A few advance tips:
I often measure out the dry ingredients for both the cake and pudding at the start, putting each in their own separate bowl, a medium one for the cake and a small one for the pudding ingredients.
If you use a Pyrex-style glass 1-cup measuring cup, there’s plenty of room for the milk, melted butter, egg and vanilla. I mix these altogether in the measuring cup and add all the liquids already mixed into the dry ingredients.
Using coffee amplifies the chocolatiness. I usually brew a bit of decaf for the recipe but go with caffeinated if you like. Hot water is fine; many recipes call for hot water with no mention of coffee.
Chocolate Pudding Cake
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder processed with alkali ("Dutch" process)
- 3/4 cup whole milk room temperature
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted then cooled slightly
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips semi-sweet or dark chocolate
For the pudding
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar very lightly packed
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder processed with alkali ("Dutch" process)
- 1-1/2 cups hot brewed coffee or very hot water, not boiling
Instructions
- Position an oven rack to the lower third position. Set a large, rimmed baking sheet on the rack to catch any drips and/or bake individual ramekins. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8” square pan, or eight 8-ounce ramekins.
- For the cake: In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. Make sure there are no large clumps of cocoa powder, which you can just pinch between your fingers to separate.
- Stir in the milk, egg, vanilla, and melted butter, mixing until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Pour the batter into the prepared 8” pan and spread to level, or if using eight ramekins portion a heaping 1/ 4-cup of batter into each.
- For the pudding: Mix the brown sugar with the cocoa powder and sprinkle this mixture evenly over the batter in the pan or ramekins. Gently drizzle the hot coffee or water over the mixture. It is OK to fill the pan/ramekins pretty full as the cakes do not rise much.
- Bake for 45 minutes for an 8” pan, or about 30 minutes for ramekins. Remove the cake when it looks set, and the pudding is bubbling around the edges of the pan.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes before serving. The pudding will thicken as it cools and is ideally served warm with your favorite ice cream.
- Leftover cake can be stored for a day or two at room temperature, but you will notice the pudding will start getting absorbed by the cake. It’s still tasty, but with less of the gooey pudding.
